Sri Lanka announced on Saturday that it will restrict tourists from six Southern African nations because to fears about the new Omicron form of COVID-19.

Travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini will be denied entry into the nation beginning Monday. Colombo made the announcement in a statement.

Travelers from these six nations who arrived within the last two days will be subject to a 14-day quarantine.

The World Health Organization on Friday declared the new coronavirus variant to be “of concern”.

It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on Wednesday and has been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.